Butterfly Wings and Spider's Web
by hysteria TYPE A
Summary: After a terrible family tragedy, Lady Kagome struggles to find the killers as she journeys through 19th century Victorian Parisian society. She meets a depressed artist and his brother and learns that love does not come without poison. A/U Inu/Kag


Butterfly Wings and Spider's Web  
  
Prologue  
  
By DreamScribbler  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.  
  
***  
  
Chesterfield Manor, England  
  
November 2, 1869  
  
Dead. She couldn't believe it, even though their coffins were on the ground right in front of her eyes. Lady Kagome was in shock and utter disbelief.  
  
It had all been so sudden, the telegram urging her to come to the shipping docks to identify their bodies. She had rushed there, blood pounding in her ears, her heart beating so fast, hoping against hope that it wasn't true, a huge mistake somehow. But it wasn't. The sight of her mother and grandfather's grisly features covered in blood sent Kagome to her knees. She didn't utter a sound, there was no sob from her lips. She stared into their lifeless eyes, the wind knocked out of her. Their heads had been sliced clean off their necks, their mouths slightly open. She reached out to touch a bloody cheek. The blood was still wet. She wiped her hands on the blood, and spread it across her white dress, making small tortured animal noises. She sat there, continuously wiping the blood onto her skirts and face. The horrified sailors tried to pull her away, but she shrieked and strained out of their arms, still trying to wipe her hands with the blood. After much struggling, they finally let her go and she resumed her bloody ministering, her eyes glazing over, stare blank. Kagome kept going on like this until her friend Sango rushed onto the scene, quietly calming her down and taking her away.  
  
Murdered. Even worst, no one knew who had done it. There were no screams, no sign of a struggle. They had just gone for a walk at night to visit some friends that lived nearby. She had expected to come home to find them unharmed. They couldn't find her brother anywhere.  
  
Missing. Throughout the days she had been mad with worry, wondering if he had met the same fate as her mother and grandfather. She had to find him, she must.  
  
Her eyes darted quickly around to all of the people who were there, faces grim, shrouded in black. She didn't know any one of them, had only invited them because their names were in her grandfather's address book. So much black on an autumn morning, with the red and orange falling leaves of the trees. They were gathered atop a hill on the grounds of her grandfather's small estate. An estate that now belonged to her.  
  
The sound of the priest's mournful sermons. The quiet sniffling from a few of the females surrounding the coffins. A male cough. Her fists clenched. They didn't care, they didn't care one bit. They only came here out of a tiny respect for the deceased. The next day they would go on with their lives, not caring the least if the murderer was brought to justice or not. They wouldn't have to live with this. She felt wetness in the corner of her eyes. A tear trickled down her cheeks. The wall that had erected itself around her heart was crumbling to pieces. A cry erupted from her, and she flung her black veil off as they began lowering the coffins into their graves.  
  
"Noooooo!" Hurling herself onto the coffins, she looked at them all with wild eyes. "I won't let you bury them! I won't!" she cried. All collective gasp arose from all the mourners. She banged her fists on the hard mahogany, the tears flowing freely now.  
  
"Kagome!" Sango's voice echoed in the surrounding silence. "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Please, milady, calm down," said the priest, trying to placate her. He grabbed at her arm, trying to pull her away.  
  
"Bastard! Bastard! Let me go!" She kicked at him wildly, flinging herself backwards onto her back.  
  
"Kagome, they are in God's hands now. Let them go!"  
  
"No, it's dark under there! I want them burned!"  
  
"But-"  
  
"They will be burned!"  
  
"All right, all right." Sango tugged her arm, "We will burn them together. Now do get off."  
  
Kagome looked at her suspiciously. "I promise, we won't bury them!"  
  
She got off of the coffins reluctantly.  
  
Kagome looked around at the concerned and scared faces. "Get out of here. GET OUT!" She glared at them, grinding her teeth. They backed away, fear evident in their eyes.  
  
"Ahem," clearing his throat, the priest said, "Yes, I think that's about it, ladies and gentlemen. We should be departing now." He went over to Kagome and took her hands in his. "You will be all right, milady?"  
  
She nodded curtly at him, taking her hands away. "God bless you, milady," he said, before turning and going down the hill.  
  
Two old ladies who were leaving whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.  
  
"I heard she's gone a bit mad since those terrible deaths. So tragic, isn't it, Ellen?"  
  
"Yes, Beatrice, poor dear. Only fifteen years old too, no one will want marry her now." The cronies looked back at Kagome with pity on their faces.  
  
"Don't pay them any attention, Kagome," Sango whispered, put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "They're just a bunch of old biddies."  
  
Kagome shook her away and picked up her skirts, running down the steep hill to the encompassing forest. She had to get away, and fast. It was all too overwhelming. 


End file.
